Event Info
Starts: 21st April 2022
Course: TPC Louisiana, Louisiana
Par: 72 (36-36)
Length: 7,425 yards
Defending Champions: Marc Leishman & Cameron Smith
Preview
Course Info
Designer: Pete Dye
Used Since: 2005 (2017 for pairs)
Fairways: Generous.
Rough: Bermuda
Greens: TifEagle Bermuda (New greens since last event hosted here in 2019.
Water Hazards: 3,4,6,9,16,17,18.
Par 5's: 2nd, 7th, 11th and 18th
Premium on: Approach play and putting.
Significant Info
Continue to exercise caution in relation to Covid-19 related withdrawals.
It's the 5th time the Zurich Classic has been a pairs event.
There are 80 teams of two. Top 35 and ties make the cut.
72-hole format featuring Four-Ball on Thursday and Saturday and Foursomes Friday and Sunday.
This event wasn't played in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Weather
Thursday
Sunny with a mxiumum wind of 14mph.
Friday
Sunny with a maximum wind of 16mph.
Saturday
Possible thunderstorm in the afternoon and 17mph wind.
Sunday
Possible thunderstorms and 16mph wind.
Trends
We will analyse the winners of the previous three team events to find trends. Past winners include Cameron Smith/Marc Leishman (2021), Jon Rahm/Ryan Palmer (2019), Billy Horschel/Scott Piercy (2018), and Cameron Smith/Jonas Blixt (2017).
Winning Score
The last four team events have been won between -20 and -27. Birdies are the name of the game and expect another winning score in the high 20's.
Course Form
2021
Cameron Smith won this event in 2017 but missed the cut in 2018 and 2019. Marc Leishman was playing the pairs event for the first time but did post a couple of top 30 finishes when the event was an individual strokeplay event.
2019
Rahm had missed the cut in his only previous attempt with Wesley Bryan. Palmer had a previous solo 4th here in 2012 and 4th here in 2017 with Jordan Spieth.
2018
Horschel had won at the course in 2013 but Piercy had missed both cuts here as an individual.
2017
Blixt or Smith had no form to speak of in the previous individual editions at the Zurich Classic.
Recent Form
2021
Smith finished 9th the week before at Heritage and Leishman was 5th at the Masters on his last start.
2019
Palmer finished 28th at the Heritage the week before and Rahm was 9th at the Masters in his previous start.
2018
Piercy had missed the cut in his last start in Texas but had finished 16th at the Heritage the week before that. Horschel had finished 11th in Texas and 5th at Heritage.
2017
Smith had finished 6th at Texas and 29th at Heritage. Blixt had finished 44th in his last start at the Heritage. Solid recent form from the Heritage and Texas Open appears to be really important.
Winners Profile
Last year's winners, Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman already had multiple wins on tour. Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer in 2019 were both past winners on tour (although Palmer hadn't won since 2010). Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy were already proven winners too, Horschel had even won the Zurich Classic before in 2013. In 2017, Jonas Blixt had won on tour before but it was Cameron Smith's first win on tour. Ideally though, we are looking for a team that have both won on tour.
Nationality
Mix of Nationalties from from the three previous pairs winners. No trends identified.
Correlating Courses
There are trends with another Pete Dye designed courses, TPC Sawgrass. Home of The Players Championship, Sawgrass also demands accuracy off the tee and challenges players visually, as Dye likes to do. Harbour Town which was used last week is also a Dye design so recent form is an angle in at these courses.
Stats Analysis
No stats available due to team event.
In Play
Fast or Slow Start
The first and second pairs in 2021 were 3rd after the opening 18 holes. In 2019, Rahm/Palmer were 4 shots back after day one in 17th place but were leading from the halfway point onwards. Horschel/Piercy were 3 shots back after day one and 6 back at halfway before a 3rd round 61 put them 2 shots back heading into the final round. Smith and Blixt were 6 shots back after day one but led at halfway.
You don't need to be leading after day one here but you want to be up with the pace after the second round is completed.
Players We Almost Backed
NOTE - These are players who we shortlisted for this event but ultimately didn't advise to subscribers. If you want to find out who we did tip, you can subscribe using the link below.
55/1 Greyson Sigg & Sepp Straka
College team mates who are good friends, both have been playing well this year. However, price just a little on the short side for our liking.
150/1 Peter Uihlein & Richy Werenski
This pairing recorded a 3rd place finish in this event last year and it's not unfeasible that they repeat the result this time around. Uihlein was 2nd on the Korn Ferry Tour a few weeks ago and Werenski has been showing signs of form of late. We probably wanted closer to 200/1 to take a chance on them.
160/1 Tyler Duncan & Adam Schenk
These two have been a regular staple of this event with a couple of top 12 finishes. However, Schenk is struggling this year and both players really need to be on form in this pairing to have any chance.